FR 691 Upgrade to electric fuel pump

[RevB]

I have replaced the vacuum pump a number of times but they just don't last and become unreliable. Has anyone replaced this with a low pressure electric fuel pump and were there any issues with this type of upgrade?
I see a lot of solenoid fuel pumps online rated 3-5 PSI 12VDC

Any feedback appreciated

You'll need a pressure regulator that gets down to the 1 to 2 pound range, preferentially the lower of the two. Or just get a pump with an adjustable regulator. I did this in an old Craftsman when I lived in PA as the hills would prevent the vacuum pumps from moving fuel to the now much higher carb when going up hill.

 

[bkicker]

Put an electric on 3-5 psi fuel ran out carb,got a fuel pressure regulator, worked fine after that. bought everything from eBay.

 

[slomo]

I have replaced the vacuum pump a number of times but they just don't last and become unreliable.

With OEM parts? Bought from a Kawi dealer or directly from Kawasaki? Recommend you buy directly from Kawasaki.

Recommend NOT installing any aftermarket Amazon or Fleabay pump. All these extra parts will only fail on a machine that bounces around every time it is used.

Fuel pumps and spark plugs just to name two items are highly copied by China.

 

[bkicker]

Just about everything you buy on Amazon or eBay or any other place is from China, some more some don’t

 

[BackyardBrian]

How is the price and quality compared to the OE parts? Hadn't bought parts from Amazon or eBay. Personally, I often source parts at Friday parts.What's their brand name on these platforms? Thanks in advance.

 

[Boit4866]

You could use a low pressure 12V Facet style fuel pump (very large range) however as Auto Doc's suggests, even a low pressure one, may deliver too much pressure for the float valve. The solution would be installing a fuel return line with an internal restrictor jet.
Select a jet aperture that will bleed off just enough pressure to prevent overcoming the float chamber float valve.
Fuel return lines are used on many automotive and piston engine aircraft installations . T ing off the high pressure side is easy. Fitting a restrictor jet, to the T, also a no brainer. The hard bit, is fitting a return barb to the tank.

I did some research on how to use an electric pump and keep the pressure low. Then I remember what I learned when I worked in industry and we used a pressure rupture disc that protected our pumps too much discharge pressure, especially positive discharge pumps. The rupture disc was mounted on a short pipe mounted from the discharge side right back to the suction. It got me to thinking that I could do a similar design but instead of a rupture disc, a tapered needle valve would be used to adjust the forward pressure to the carb.